Added: 09/25/2005 |
Home School OptionsThe main reason parents cite for deciding to home school their children is that the local school is failing their children in some way. Either the school doesn't have enough courses to challenge their children or they are afraid of the escalating harassment or violence. There is a concern over the increasing amount of harassment that children have to endure in school at the hands of their peers. The media is showing that there are many troubled children in mainstream educational institutions and the end result is the stress on their peers and disruption in the classroom.
There are many options for those parents who want to home school their children. Many parents try an eclectic method before they decide on a particular method of home school education. Popular methods include homeschooling Christian, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Natural Learning and Unit Studies. All of these methods have their own particular curriculum and course offerings that can be purchased directly from the school's catalog or the Internet site. The cost of the curriculum and course materials can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands. Many parents upon discovering the costs involved will decide to design their own curriculum and purchase materials independently from the nearby bookstores or teacher specialty stores.
Each state has specific regulations that guide parents that home school their children. States can be very relaxed and not require any notification of the intent to home school, as well as there are states that require the parents to file the intent, provide credentials, and be available to home visitations by state officials. Parents should be prepared to keep excellent records in either case, because they may be the key to a child being accepted into college or not. Although many children that are home schooled are accepted into Ivy League colleges, they did so because they were able to provide records of their work and accomplishments.
A new alternative to purchasing materials and course books is the use of the Internet to test and teach children. Several states are beginning to offer home school courses on the Internet, which allows the board of education to keep track of a child's educational progress. For many parents who have chosen a home school education for their children to get them out of the testing loop, teaching their children via the Internet is not a viable alternative.
The benefits to running your own home school include allowing children plenty of time to explore subjects with a minimum of distraction, going on field trips that will enhance a learning experience, teaching any day of the week and bonding as a family. Another benefit for working parents is that they can take vacations any time of the year, not just during school vacations when they home school their children.
The end result for most home schooled children is that they graduate in the top ten percent of their class. They go on to do well academically in college as well. Famous people that were home schooled include Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, LeAnn Rimes and Ansel Adams. As the popularity of home schooling increases, so will the studies done on these students. If the results continue to show that these children statistically score higher on college entrance exams than their public school counterparts, there may be a larger number of home schooled children in the future.
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